Multilingual Forms Composer

ABSTRACT

Digital documents are pre-loaded with expressions of underlying data in a plurality of output languages. Expressions of the underlying data are alternatively presented to users to facilitate data collection and information transfer between people who do not share a common language.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Applicant's prior provisionalapplication, application No. 61/331,467 filed on May 5, 2010.

FIELD OF INVENTION

Computer based language translation devices.

BACKGROUND

The following relates to the facilitation of communications between twopeople who do not share a common language. It may be applied to hospitalcommunications between doctors and patients, and will be described withparticular reference thereto. The following may also be applied to anytype of inter-language communication, data collection, and a variety ofsimilar applications. For example, “doctor” shall be read to includedoctors, nurses, any type of health care provider, and any type ofperson or system that needs to collect data and/or provide instructions;“hospital” shall be read to include any type of health care institution,and any institution that collects data and keeps records; and “patient”shall be read to include hospital patients, as well as any other type ofperson or system that is required to provide data and/or receiveinstructions.

Hospitals typically use hundreds of different forms to gather medicaldata from their patients, additional forms to provide instructions, andstill other forms to collect patient signatures. These forms may coveranything from administration of medicine, to proper diet, to theacknowledgement of informed consent. Hospitals expend significantresources keeping these forms in stock, organized, and readilyaccessible. Inventory complexity increases significantly when forms arerequired in multiple languages.

In addition to the inventory and organizational problems, there areinter-language communication problems. If the doctor and patient do notshare a common language, the doctor will have trouble explaining theform to the patient, and may be unable to elicit a meaningful response.Patients may describe their conditions more accurately in response todiagnosis forms in their own language. Likewise, printed health careinstructions are nearly useless if written in a language the patientcannot understand.

Although a variety of “on the fly” or “real time” software basedtranslation solutions exist, their translations are prone to errors.Translation accuracy is critical for medical diagnosis and patientinstruction.

Hospitals often employ human translators. While expert human translatorsprovide accurate translations, they are expensive, and often unavailable(especially at night).

Therefore, there is a need for a system to keep an inventory ofdocuments in a plurality of languages in stock and readily accessible.Furthermore, there is a need for a high-accuracy system to facilitatethe explanation and discussion of such forms and documents betweenpeople who do not share a common language.

SUMMARY

Applicant's interactive multilingual forms (“Multilingual Forms”) solvemany of the problems associated with traditional form archives.Multilingual Forms are digital documents capable of alternativelypresenting similar data in a plurality of languages. Multilingual Formsmay include mechanisms to accept and record user data. MultilingualDirectives are a type of Multilingual Form adapted to communicate atleast an instruction to another person.

In the medical field, for example, Multilingual Forms may be used togather patient information, diagnose medical conditions, provideinstructions, and record patient input, even if the doctor and patientdo not share a common language.

A Multilingual Form may express the same underlying information in aplurality of languages. The original language expression and targetlanguage expression(s) are provided in advance, and may be checked foraccuracy. This reduces the possibility of translation error.

A Multilingual Form includes a language selection option. The languageselection option changes the displayed language. This allows a user toread the form in his preferred language, and then change the displayedlanguage to facilitate communication of the underlying information toanother person.

For example, a doctor could read a question to the patient, draw thepatient's attention to a picture, phrase, or diagram on the MultilingualForm, and then change the Multilingual Form's display language. Althoughthe language changes, the substantive information represented by thelanguage does not. The patient may now read the same question in his orher own language, and select from a series of answers in his or her ownlanguage. The doctor may then revert the screen back to the baselanguage to read the response selected by the patient. Since the outputin the patient's language mirrors the output in the doctor's language,the doctor may accurately refer to a particular word, phrase or graphicitem in the patient's language, even if the doctor does not understandlanguage currently displayed by the Multilingual Form.

Certain embodiments of a Multilingual Form may include embedded audio ormultimedia files. These files may contain a brief prerecordedpresentation, in the patient's native language, explaining the contentof the Multilingual Form and what information is required from thepatient. A different version of the file is recorded in each desiredtarget language. Each version is associated with the Multilingual Formexpression of the corresponding target language; that is, the audio ormultimedia presentation will be in the same language that is currentlybeing displayed on the Multilingual Form.

An example of a hypothetical use is illustrative. Imagine a doctor whoonly speaks English, and a patient who only speaks Spanish. The doctoropens the Multilingual Form and selects English as the output language.Line 3 of the English version of this hypothetical form asks “where doesit hurt?” After reviewing the information, the doctor may then selectthe patients preferred language: Spanish. The English expression of theMultilingual Form is replaced by the Spanish expression of the sameform. Although the displayed language changes, the substantiveinformation represented by the language remains displayed in the samegeneral locations on the Multilingual Form. The doctor may then point toline three, and confidently interpret any response from the patient asan indication of where the patient is feeling pain. Where responses arenot amenable to manual pointing or gesturing, the patient may input datadirectly onto the tablet. This input data may include, withoutlimitation, selecting answers from a list of choices, writing freeresponses by hand, or indicating consent to a contract (such as bysignature).

In an exemplary embodiment, hard copies of the Multilingual Form may beprinted, as amended by the user input. The amended Multilingual Form mayalso be emailed, saved digitally, or otherwise made part of thepatient's electronic medical record.

Although this invention has been discussed in a medical environment, itcan be used in any situation requiring accurate translations or the useof forms in a plurality of languages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary Multilingual Form as displayed in English.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary Multilingual Form as displayed in Spanish.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary Multilingual Form as displayed in Spanish, andpresenting a multimedia file.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the software functions of an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the functions of an exemplary MultilingualForm.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the functions of an exemplary MultilingualDirective.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary “Main Screen” from which Multilingual Forms,Multilingual Directives and other programs options may be selected.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The Multilingual Forms Composer (“MFC”) may be embodied within anynumber of different hardware and software combinations. The preferredembodiment is run on a “Motion C5V” tablet PC made by Motion Computing,Inc. Other embodiments may be run on laptops, cell phones, tabletcomputers, or other computers.

The exemplary embodiment is written in the Microsoft “VB.NET”programming language. This is an exemplary embodiment only; theinvention may be written in any programming language.

For the sake of brevity, the following example describes the code of anembodiment with three Multilingual Forms and three MultilingualDirectives.

In the exemplary embodiment, the software is driven by data contained ina Microsoft Access database stored on the tablet computer itself. Inother embodiments, the database may be stored on a remote server, or inany other readily accessible manner. Other embodiments may utilize othertypes of databases, including, without limitation, Oracle, Informix orno database at all.

In the preferred embodiment, a control table contains the names of theMultilingual Forms and Multilingual Directives to be displayed to theuser. Upon initiation 16, the preferred embodiment reads a control tablefrom the database. In this embodiment, the Control Table contains threeMultilingual Forms: “Consent, Initial Assessment, and SublingualNitroglycerin (note that the “lingual” of “Sublingual Nitroglycerin”refers to a medication placed beneath the tongue, and is unrelated tothe inter-language communication features of the “Multilingual FormsComposer”). In the exemplary embodiment, the control table containsthree Multilingual Directives: Bleeding Precautions, Interventions, andPain Assessment. In other embodiments, any number of Multilingual Formsand/or Multilingual Directives may be contained in the control table.

The Multilingual Forms and Multilingual Directives may then be displayedto the user in two separate display panels 24, 25 within the “MainScreen” 17—the home screen from which the user controls aspects of thepreferred embodiment (FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary “Main Screen”).

In the preferred embodiment, forms are loaded into the “Form Panel” 24within the Main Screen, and directives are loaded into the “DirectivePanel” 25 within the Main Screen. The lists of available MultilingualForms and Multilingual Directives may be displayed to the user as aseries of buttons. Pressing a button 14 displays the correspondingMultilingual Form or Multilingual Directive.

Other types of entities may also be presented to the user. For example,a set of video and audio instructions might be presented in a panel. TheMain Screen may also present a panel for review of completed forms.

In the preferred embodiment, the Main Screen allows for the input 19 ofa patient identifier 26 to enhance organization and archiving of data.The patient identifier may be input as handwritten text. The exemplaryembodiment processes the handwritten text, converting it into ASCIItext. In other embodiments, the patient identifier may be input by aphysical keyboard, an onscreen keyboard or any other data entry method.The patient identifier may be stored and applied to each MultilingualForm used in the interaction.

In the preferred embodiment, pressing a form button on the Main Screen17 activates the associated Multilingual Form 13. That is, pressing aform button causes the software to access 18 the corresponding table inthe database, and display the accessed form 22 information. Likewise,selecting a directive button causes the software to access thecorresponding table in the database, and display the accessedMultilingual Directive on the screen.

When selected, the Multilingual Form displays its contents in thedefault language and presents a variety of function options 14. FIG. 1depicts an exemplary “Consent” Multilingual Form 2 displayed in English.The Multilingual Form is available to be read by the user, in thisexample a doctor, in English. A language selection button 1 may then beactivated 15 to alternate the displayed output language to the patientspreferred language.

The exemplary Multilingual Form contains data entry lines 3 to collectpatient data. Data may be entered into these lines and saved 9 in anappropriate database. Erroneous data may be cleared 8 and an option isavailable to exit the form 10 and return to the Main Screen.

Multilingual Forms may also display context sensitive audio 4 and video5 buttons. When an audio button is pressed, context sensitive audio isplayed in the language of the form being displayed. Likewise, when avideo button is pressed, a context sensitive video 11 is played in thelanguage of the form being displayed. For example, when the MultilingualForm is displayed in English, the audio or video plays in English. Whenthe Multilingual Form is displayed in Spanish, the audio and video playin Spanish. The Audio and Video buttons may be hidden 6, 7 when notneeded.

After Multilingual Forms are processed and signed, the main screen maydisplay the completed Multilingual Forms in a completed form window 27.The completed Multilingual Forms may be displayed with the patientidentifier as a prefix to the filename, and may also be displayed withthe language in which the form was processed as a suffix to thefilename.

Selecting a completed Multilingual Form from the Main Screen willactivate a panel for reviewing 20 completed Multilingual Forms. Thiscompleted form panel includes options to print a hardcopy of the signedand completed Multilingual Forms.

A Multilingual Directive 21 is a variety of Multilingual Form adaptedfor providing instructions rather than collecting information. Like theMultilingual Form, the Multilingual Directive display includes aplurality of language selection options, such as buttons. Pressing alanguage selection button changes the display language to thecorresponding language. The selected output language is then used forall output media, including, without limitation, text output, audiooutput, or video output.

In the exemplary embodiment, the Multilingual Directives contain listsof common commands grouped by patient condition. For example, the“Bleeding Precautions” Multilingual Directive contains commands such as“You must stay in bed until,” “You must refrain from eating after,” “youcan not eat until,” “The device around your waist will stay in placeuntil,” “you must refrain from bending at the waist until,” etc. TheBleeding Precautions Form also contains clock-like circular diagramsdivided into twelve hours. The doctor may select an instruction,followed by a time from the clock-diagram (if appropriate). In response,the Multilingual Directive will play an audio file of the directive asspoken in the selected output language. In other embodiments, the audiofile may be a multimedia file.

In another embodiment, unfilled paper forms may be printed on the fly,in needed languages. This may reduce inventory demands or even eliminatethe need to store hard copies in multiple languages.

In another embodiment, Multilingual Forms accept input from a stylus.Users may write on them like standard paper forms. For example, patientsmay write an answer out longhand, draw a picture, etc. The MultilingualForms may record all such input and make it part of the patient'srecord.

1. A computer system for the display of Multilingual Forms comprising, amemory means capable of storing a plurality of Multilingual Forms; aplurality of Multilingual Forms stored in said memory means, saidMultilingual Forms containing, underlying information including at least1 question, directive or statement, a plurality of alternaterepresentations of the underlying information expressed in differentoutput languages, a language selection means; a display means capable ofalternatively displaying Multilingual Forms in any of the availableoutput languages; a computer program capable of accessing the storedMultilingual Forms, displaying the Multilingual Forms, and replacing thedisplayed representation upon selection of a new language.
 2. Thecomputer system of claim 1 wherein the expressions of the underlyinginformation arrange the underlying information so that it is displayedin substantially the same layout in each output language.
 3. Thecomputer system of claim 2 wherein the Multilingual Forms contain atleast one embedded context-sensitive multilingual audio recordingrelating to a portion of the Multilingual Form, and at least one audioactivation button, said audio recording containing at least one wordpre-recorded in a plurality of output languages, said activation buttonbeing located near the portion of the Multilingual Form to which itrelates, and wherein activation of said button causes the audio outputof the audio in the most recently selected output language.
 4. Thecomputer system of claim 2 wherein the Multilingual Forms contain atleast one embedded context-sensitive multilingual multimedia recordingrelating to a portion of the Multilingual Form, at least one multimediaactivation button, said multimedia recording containing at least onemulti-media presentation pre-recorded in a plurality of outputlanguages, said activation button being located near the portion of theMultilingual Form to which it relates, activation of said button causesthe audio-visual output of the multimedia presentation in the mostrecently selected output language.
 5. The computer system of claim 2further comprising a means for accepting user input; a memory means forstoring user input.
 6. The computer system of claim 5 wherein theMultilingual Forms include data entry fields, said data entry fieldscapable of accepting user input, said user input capable of being storedin the memory means.
 7. The computer system of claim 6 adapted to accepta patient identifier, and further capable of applying said patientidentifier to saved copies of Multilingual Forms containing patientinput.
 8. The computer system of claim 6 wherein the Multilingual Formscontain at least one embedded context-sensitive multilingual audiorecording relating to a portion of the Multilingual Form, and at leastone audio activation button, said audio recording containing at leastone word pre-recorded in a plurality of output languages, saidactivation button being located near the portion of the MultilingualForm to which it relates, and wherein activation of said button causesthe audio output of the audio in the most recently selected outputlanguage.
 9. The computer system of claim 6 wherein the MultilingualForms contain at least one embedded context-sensitive multilingualmultimedia recording relating to a portion of the Multilingual Form, atleast one multimedia activation button, said multimedia recordingcontaining at least one multi-media presentation pre-recorded in aplurality of output languages, said activation button being located nearthe portion of the Multilingual Form to which it relates, activation ofsaid button causes the audio-visual output of the multimediapresentation in the most recently selected output language.
 10. A methodof displaying Multilingual Forms to facilitate the inter-languagecommunication of questions, directive or statements, comprising,providing at least a question, directive, or statement; providing anexpression of said question, directive or statement in a plurality oflanguages, providing a database of at least one Multilingual Form, saidMultilingual Form containing at least a question, directive or statementexpressed in a plurality of languages, wherein each expression arrangesthe underlying information in substantially the same page layout,retrieving a Multilingual Form from the database, displaying theMultilingual Form, providing a language selection means capable ofreplacing the displayed expression of Multilingual Form with anexpression in an alternate language.
 11. The method of claim 10 whereinthe Multilingual Form further includes at least one embeddedcontext-sensitive multilingual audio recording relating to a portion ofthe Multilingual Form, said audio recording containing at least one wordpre-recorded, relating to a question, directive, or statement used onthe Multilingual Form, and expressed in one of the Multilingual Form'soutput language, providing at least one audio activation button locatednear the portion of the Multilingual Form to which the audio filerelates, wherein activation of said button causes the audio output ofthe audio in the most recently selected output language.
 12. The methodof claim 10 wherein the Multilingual Form further includes at least oneembedded context-sensitive multilingual multi-media recording relatingto a portion of the Multilingual Form, said multi-media recordingcontaining at least one word pre-recorded, relating to a question,directive, or statement used on the Multilingual Form, and expressed inone of the Multilingual Form's output language, providing at least onemulti-media activation button located near the portion of theMultilingual Form to which the multi-media file relates, whereinactivation of said button causes the multi-media output of themulti-media in the most recently selected output language.
 13. Themethod of claim 10 further comprising providing a means for acceptinguser input, and a memory means for saving user input.
 14. The method ofclaim 13 wherein the Multilingual Forms include data entry fieldscapable of accepting user input, said user input capable of being storedin the memory means, and wherein the required user input is identifiedby the question, directive or statement adjacent to the field.
 15. Themethod of claim 14 further providing a user input field to accept apatient identifier, and applying said patient identifier to saved copiesof Multilingual Forms containing patient input.
 16. The method of claim14 wherein the Multilingual Form further includes at least one embeddedcontext-sensitive multilingual audio recording relating to a portion ofthe Multilingual Form, said audio recording containing at least one wordpre-recorded, relating to a question, directive, or statement used onthe Multilingual Form, and expressed in one of the Multilingual Form'soutput language, providing at least one audio activation button locatednear the portion of the Multilingual Form to which the audio filerelates, wherein activation of said button causes the audio output ofthe audio in the most recently selected output language.
 17. The methodof claim 14 wherein the Multilingual Form further includes at least oneembedded context-sensitive multilingual multi-media recording relatingto a portion of the Multilingual Form, said multi-media recordingcontaining at least one word pre-recorded, relating to a question,directive, or statement used on the Multilingual Form, and expressed inone of the Multilingual Form's output language, providing at least onemulti-media activation button located near the portion of theMultilingual Form to which the multi-media file relates, whereinactivation of said button causes the multi-media output of themulti-media in the most recently selected output language.